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"Yeah, if this is heaven there was definitely a mix up." I walked over to the closet and pulled open the doors. "I had some things delivered this morning. I guessed on the sizes, but I think most of it should fit."
Shay walked past me and into the closet. Most of the items were silky, sexy lingerie from an exclusive boutique in town. She ran her fingers over the shiny fabric of a baby blue teddy that had sheer lace peek-a-boo cut outs in strategic places.
"You weren't kidding when you said it would be the good stuff," she said in a much more subdued tone than seconds before. She stared at the skimpy, provocative clothes I'd purchased, and her eyes lost some of the glitter.
"Are you all right?" I asked.
She nodded. "As long as I can hold onto my self-esteem through all of this, I'll be fine."
"And far better off financially. You won't ever have to strip for creepy, grabby men again," I reminded her.
A sad laugh rolled from her lips. "You're right. Self-esteem, who am I kidding? I was hugging a stripper's pole just last night. I lost any shred of it long ago."
"You need to think of this as a lucrative business deal, Shay. You haven't lost your self-esteem. You just have to find it again."
She sucked in a deep breath. "Right. What about that contract?" she blurted before I could say anything more.
We returned to the front room. I had the contract out on the table in the breakfast nook. "Would you like something to drink?" I asked. "I filled the fridge with a few things, not sure what you preferred."
Shay pushed her hair behind her ears, revealing three tiny hoops in each ear lobe. "Iced tea if you have it."
"Yes. I thought you might be an iced tea kind of woman." I filled a glass with ice and poured the tea.
Her fingers were moving quickly over the text on the paper.
"You're a fast reader." I set the tea down next to her.
"I am. Turned out to be kind of a natural talent of mine, along with the whole striptease thing." She pointed to the last section of the contract, the section guaranteeing her a million dollars if I broke the contract and touched her intimately. Her brown eyes rounded as she looked up at me. "You weren't joking. You actually added the million dollar offer into the contract."
"If there's one thing you'll learn quickly about me, when it comes to business, I never joke around."
"I will make a mental note of that."
I walked back to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. I was planning to give up both booze and women, but I decided to tackle my habits one at a time. But I was going to have to take it easy on the alcohol because it tended to make me forget any sense of reason, particularly when I was near an enticing woman. And Shay was definitely that.
Shay's face moved closer to the contract as she read the last few lines. "If I touch you in an intimate way or a way that causes arousal, then the million dollar pay off is retracted?" Her mouth pursed in question at the last statement. "So, if I suddenly grab your penis and push it into my mouth, all bets are off?"
I popped the top off the beer. "I had to put some protections in there for me. I figured that million dollars was going to sound pretty sweet."
"Oh, it sounds more than sweet. My entire life would change, and frankly, I could use a change. I've been on the wrong end of luck for most of my life. But this stipulation is kind of silly. Women don't go around groping genitals without permission. That's a man thing."
"Oh really? Seems to me I've been groped without invitation more than once by one of your ex-coworkers at Fantasm."
"That's because those women are struggling to pay their bills, and if you step into Fantasm that is technically an invitation to have your balls grabbed."
I lifted my beer can in salute. "Touché." My ignorance was really coming back to slap me in the face. I'd anticipated having a seductive, sweet and vacuous woman milling around the house in enticing silk underwear, but Shay was anything but dull and empty-headed. I was going to have work hard just to stay in control of the situation, or she might very well walk off with a million bucks.
Shay finished reading the document. "Looks good to me." She signed her name on the bottom, below my signature. I scooted over the non-disclosure form for her to sign next.
"This just states that you won't ever tell anyone about this agreement."
"That shouldn't be a problem. I don't know that many people, and I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to put this agreement into words." She scrawled her name on the line, set down the pen and sipped some more tea. "When do I start acting like a tempting piece of chocolate cake?"
